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Can you relate to this picture? 🙂 🙂 Manytimes I have found myself searching over internet- essential things to pack on a camping trip. The reason because many times I forgot to pack few essentials while going away for a trip and ended up spending extra pound on buying those.

Preparing for your first camping trip can be overwhelming for camping beginners. With a 100 questions in mind this exciting adventure into the great outdoors can be converted into more trouble than it is worth.

To save myself, I thought of coming up with a checklist for camping essentials and share it with all the camping lovers.

1.A good sleeping bag – Buy a good one, may be initial investment sounds a lot. But it will save you from having to change your bag every year due to wear & tear. Mine is a 3-season sleeping bag, keeps me cozy even on much colder and rainy nights.
2. A strong tent– Now you can make choice of a tent depending upon the number of people you will be staying with. But make sure it is water proof and have a high wind resistance. The last thing you want to do on a windy or rainy night is tightening the tent ropes or getting soaked inside. I have a 2men tunnel tent that keeps me protected.3. Extra ground sheet It is a good idea to have an extra ground sheet on top of which you will put up your tent. It gives an extra layer of water proofing and insulation. It will also keep the base of your tent clean and prevent from any wear & tear.4.Sleeping Mats- Mats that comes with insulation or reflector on the base. Believe me it will intact the heat and will not let the moisture from the ground getting into your sleeping bags.5.Wellington Boots: Some campsites can get really muddy if it starts raining and these boots will help you keep those feet clean and warm.6.Light- A night lamp, torch, head lamp, candle stand and candles.7. Toiletries Bag- Shower gel,shampoo,soap,tooth brush, tooth paste,face wash,body lotion, sunscreen lotion,toilet rolls.8. If you are planning to cook- portable gas stove, extra cyclinders, saucer pans, spatulas, plates, spoons, forks,knives,bowls,glasses,scissor,bottle opener,cork,tissues. Utensil wash gel,scrub.9. To wear -Waterproofs, fleece, thermals, caps, gloves for those much colder nights.10. First aid kit- plasters, pain spray, pain killers like paracetamols, antiseptic lotion, bandages.

IMP- Never dirty the campsite, keep it clean. Always carry extra bin bags to collect your waste and dispose it into designated bins.

If you know you will be spending most of the time at campsite, do not forget to get chair and a small table. Believe me it will be very useful.

If campfire and bbq is allowed, make sure to carry a portable bbq, lighting matches, fire paper.

While packing keep an umbrella handy, just in case as soon as you arrive it starts to rain 🙂

Please feel free to add anything else that I might have missed to the list by adding your comments :):)

Little I knew about camping when couple of years ago, an idea popped up into my head about Camping on bank holiday weekend. When it comes to holidays I am the most happiest person on this earth ( You might think Am I insane to think that I am the only one who feels happy for a holiday, Isn’t it same for all humans 🙂 ). But what makes me happier is planning for the trip. I am a favourite member of my gang when it comes to trip planning and all of them have by default guarded me that duty. A big big thank you guys for trusting me and believing in planning skills. Ahhhh We Girls, you give a chance and can talk about ourselves all day long:P.

Coming back to my story, so I had proposed the idea of Camping without having a clue about how a good camping is supposed to be done. What I could recall from facebook pictures was we need a tent, few clothes, a sleeping bag and some food and most important a tent pitch. So my idea of camping was welcomed by my friends.

Hence I called a camping site owner, booked a pitch, my friends got a 6 men tent and we were set off for a journey to peak district. Driving through busy bank holiday weekend traffic and a beautiful country side of Derby, we finally reached our camp site.

Camp Site (Picture courtesy Ash)

Yeyyyyyy!! But that expression did not stay any longer, as sky was covered with dark clouds after a while and we had to make sure tent is intact before it starts to rain else a sleepless night in car was awaiting us.

As new we were to camping, it was same with the skills on how to put a good tent too. So all the engineers were on the duty to put the tent, some one was hammering the nails, others were pulling the poles( basically everyone was getting their head around in bits of tent) and after 1 hour of hard work, we had a tent – DISASTER. It was not proper, not firm and a blow of strong wind will knacker us out.

Disaster (Picture courtesy Ash)

So the whole process began again (this time using our much-loved YouTube) and YeYyyyyy our tent was stood up once again and this time properly intact :)(hopefully :P)